To better serve our members, we have just released a new look and feel for our website, www.coloci.com. The new site is now easier to navigate with professional and social location feeds and custom meeting opportunities conveniently displayed on the radar screen and on user’s profiles.

Network radar

Invite friends from your contact lists or Facebook *, view member profiles, and connect with just one click. You can easily import your LinkedIn profiles as well as events from your calendars (Google, iCal, Outlook, etc). Use the Map Search feature to add a trip in seconds, share your activities with your group(s), and post to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all though the new site.

Coloci makes meeting friends and acquaintances in person convenient and enjoyable. It stands for the needed efficiency in our fast-paced world and the importance of interpersonal relationships by helping you plan ahead.

Whats new:

– View member profiles and connect with them in 1 click

– Easily import your profile from Linkedin

– Add a trip in seconds using natural language text or a simple map based page

*Please allow a few hours for a follow back ( :( we know, we are trying our best to make this part quick). If your Tweets are Protected (huh? see the bottom of your Twitter->Settings page) then you must Approve @colocime as a Follower when you get that request. You can’t DM someone unless they follow you.

To add an activity in Coloci:

Message @ColociMe to add an activity / event / trip. Message was previously called “Direct Message”, also known as “DM” in short. How do I DM?

(Note: d colocime is the quick way to DM ColociMe. After that, the first letter of the message should be X or x (not case sensitive). x is to add an event, more features are coming soon. If you use a 3rd party tool to Tweet, or DM via Twitter’s “Messages” page, where you have to separately select the user that you want to DM, your message may begin with the ‘x‘.)

Even if you used some other Id to sign up earlier, you can always sign in with any of the supported social Ids. If you are an existing user, just follow the prompts (select Existing user) and your other Ids will get associated with your Coloci account. We only use this information to allow you to Tweet your updates to Coloci, we don’t spam your friends. Never.

Example: say you signed up on Coloci the first time using your email. You can Sign in next time using your Facebook / Twitter / other supported credentials. It will ask you whether you are an existing user or a new one – select Existing user. This will associate your social Id with your Coloci account.

Errors?

If you get a DM from @colocime “This Twitter Id is not associated with any Coloci user. Please Sign In to Coloci with your Twitter Id to associate the id with your Coloci account.”, then just Sign in to Coloci using your Twitter account as described above.

If @ColociMe can’t understand the location you Tweeted in (typo maybe), it will DM you back something like “Couldn’t resolve location.Pls give more details.Format:’X activity at[# road/sector,]city[,state][,country][datetime]to/-[datetime]'”. Relax. Its trying to tell a long story in just 140 characters. Simply ensure that the location you gave is valid.

If your location is not unique, it takes the first one that Google Maps finds for your text. So, to avoid unintended locations, give it something that makes it a unique place, say, city & state instead of just city.

Who can see my Tweeted-in activities / trips?

For now, all your Groups will be able to see the event you added (and get notified about it). It will not be posted to Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter (but you can still do that later by clicking Edit, then Save & Share for this event, under the My Trips->Manage Trips menu.

Soon you will be able to choose a set of Groups that you want to share just your Tweeted activities with (we are working on that).

We did toy with the idea of allowing you to choose the Groups in your Tweet itself… but that would mess up your simple, elegant style. :)

Like this:

We are excited to announce the launch of our SMS feature (in India for now, other countries coming soon).

What is it?

SMS your plans to friends for free, unlimited ! You can now add a trip / activity via SMS. And, when you do so, your “mobile friends”* can get an SMS update about your plans. So you can broadcast your plans via SMS, for free! Even if you add an activity via the website, or the mobile app, your friends can still get an SMS (and email) update.

* – your connections who have entered their mobile # in their Coloci account. So sign up and invite all your friends to connect with you!

Click the Send Verification Code button to get a SMS on your mobile with a verification code

Enter the verification code in the Verification Code box and click Save

Done! You need to do this only once.

How do I add a trip via SMS?

Send an SMS to 9246356765 coloci X message

Coloci is the keyword you must use.

X is to Add a trip (more features coming soon). You can also use A.

message format is what at where when

If you use X, we try to resolve your location, and if we don’t understand it, we still add it anyway (you don’t get any error message). If you use A, we try to resolve your location, and you get an error message if we can’t, and then you can resend a correct location. (see more on this below)

Examples:

X or A movie at 33 Ghoddod rd, Surat 7pm-10pm;

X or A sightseeing at Agra, UP next Monday;

X or A meeting at Nariman Point, Mumbai 13:00-16:00;

X or A Conference at Delhi 9/23 – 9/26.

X chai at mall (note: this will add a ‘virtual trip’ to the ‘mall’ for chai over the next 2 hours. If you used A here, you would get an error back because we can’t resolve ‘mall’)

Simply make sure that you have opted to receive SMS notifications (go to Profile & Privacy -> Notification Settings) and that you have entered and verified your mobile #.

Notification Settings

Coloci SMS and Picture Upload

Other details…

What happens if my Add trip message is incorrect?

If you used the A option to SMS the trip to Coloci: If we cannot understand the location in your message, you will get back an error SMS. You may have to give more details about the location (example, if your city ‘name’ is not unique, or you misspelt the address etc).

If we cannot understand the from and to date-time of your message, you will get an error SMS.

If you don’t get any error SMS, you trip was added successfully.

If you used the X option to add the trip: We will add your trip as a ‘Virtual trip’ in Coloci for the specified time (or the next 2 hours by default). However, we cannot show alerts on Virtual trips, because we couldn’t understand your location initially. The advantage of this option is that you can SMS anything to your friends!

You can always edit and delete the trip via the web or mobile app. Your friends will get notified when you update and delete a trip.

We suggest you save the 9246356765 numberin your contacts for convenience.

What message do my friends get?Your friends, who have verified mobile #s, and have opted to get notified via SMS, will get an SMS message such as below.

Preeti Batra in Churchgate, Mumbai on 15/1 10:00 for business

I or my friend did not get the SMS / I did not receive a verification code. Why?

It may be because you or they are on the SMS DND list or your carrier’s / operator’s DND list. You can check if the number is on the DND list here (the TRAI NDNC database) http://ndncregistry.gov.in/. If you are sure you are not on the NDNC list, you can check with your operator if you are on their DND list, and request to be removed from it. This is the most common reason for not receiving any SMSs from Coloci.

Also make sure you / they have opted to receive SMS notifications in Coloci (Profile & Privacy -> Notification Settings).

Check to ensure that you have entered only a 10 digit mobile # in your Profile (do not include the India country code 91, or a zero before your #).

Which groups is the trip shared with when I add a trip via SMS?

Currently, when you add a trip via SMS, it is shared with all your Groups. We are working on providing you a default set of Groups with which you can share your SMS-added trips.

Do all my friends get the SMS / email notifications?

It depends on which Groups you have shared your trip with (if adding a trip via the web or mobile app). Only friends in those Groups (that you have shared your trip with) will get the notifications. Else it would be a violation of your privacy.

Can I stop email / SMS notifications from going to my friends when I add / update a trip?

You can choose which Groups you share the trip with. Only those friends will get the notifications. We are working on giving you the option to not send any Email / SMS updates to your connections when you add a trip.

Notification via email and SMS: How do I change my Notification Settings?

When a friend adds a trip, you can get an SMS (India) and email notification. To change your notification settings, go to Profile & Privacy -> Notification Settings. You must verify your mobile # to get SMS updates from friends.

Simply sign up and invite your friends to join Coloci – and if you have 50+ connections by December, 2012, you get a chance to win an Apple iPad! You can invite friends easily by importing from your existing social networks and email contacts.

Coloci iPad

Offer ends in June 2011, or earlier, if our user growth goals are achieved (so invite your friends!). One iPad per winner. Winner(s) will be selected randomly from the global list of people who have an active account on Coloci, and have 50+ active connections at the time of the drawing. We reserve the right to change the rules and the prize(s) at any time without any notice to anyone.No purchase necessary, void where prohibited, yada yada yada… standard disclaimers apply.